This year’s March of the Living may be the last chance for young participants to walk alongside Holocaust survivors and bear witness to their stories.
As the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany approaches, the March of the Living takes on a profound urgency. With each passing year, the opportunity to walk alongside Holocaust survivors, to hear their firsthand accounts of unimaginable suffering and resilience. In the shadow of October 7 and the subsequent surge in antisemitism around the world, that urgency has only intensified.
In recent months, Holocaust survivors have once again found themselves targeted by antisemitism – this time in their own homes and communities. In Toronto, mezuzahs were torn from the doors of an apartment building housing Holocaust survivors, including Nate Leipciger, (97), a survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Dachau. To date, Nate has participated in 21 Marches of the Living, and this year he plans to attend the march on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 14, for the 22nd time.
“Marching together with Holocaust survivors and students from around the world on the 81st anniversary since liberation means the world to me”, said Nate Leipciger, a 97-year-old survivor who will attend his 22nd March this year. “We have to march this year because it might be our last chance – not only to remember, but to stand openly and proudly as Jews, and stand up against antisemitism. I march because I survived. I march to tell the world that we endured. And I march with the young because they are our future. They must never feel they need to hide who they are.”
The March of the Living is an educational journey that reclaims history. It transforms the death marches of the Holocaust into a march of remembrance and resilience, honoring those who perished and affirming the survival of the Jewish people. For nearly four decades, the program has brought together Holocaust survivors and hundreds of thousands of students from around the world, bridging generations through memory and shared responsibility. Elie Wiesel’s words, “When you listen to a witness, you become a witness,” guide its mission to create a living legacy of remembrance.
In April 2026, on Yom HaShoah, the Jewish Holocaust Remembrance Day, survivors will once again lead the March alongside thousands of students from across the globe, a powerful testament to the endurance of memory and the resilience of the human spirit.
Who will remember us when we, the last witnesses, are no longer here?
Holocaust survivor Eva Kuper urges participation in the March of the Living: “We, the Holocaust survivors, are a rapidly diminishing group. We are in the last moments of being able to share with young people our firsthand testimonies. Who will remember us when we, the last witnesses, are no longer here? Time is rapidly running out.”
“Marching with students allows them to learn and understand our resilience, our strength, and our determination. When the students listen to stories told by survivors like me, they are ready to accept the responsibility of becoming witnesses themselves. It is the legacy that we, the survivors, lay on their shoulders. Let us not squander the opportunity. Let us do our utmost to ensure that our legacy lives on.”
Many survivors, like Nate and Eva, hope to march this Yom HaShoahwith students at the International March of the Living in Auschwitz.
To make this possible, they need your help.
Ensuring that survivors are able to participate – physically, logistically, and with dignity – is our moral responsibility. Bearing witness to their stories is a sacred duty, a vital link between past and future, and a powerful stand against denial, distortion, and rising antisemitism.
Standing with survivors today helps ensure that their voices continue to be heard tomorrow. When the witnesses are gone, what remains is what we chose to carry forward.
Your sponsorship empowers them to share their experiences, inspiring new generations to remember and fight against antisemitism.
